Sri Lanka Peace Process, MoU at grave risk

The Sri
Lanka Peace Process, MoU at grave risk becouse of the Hidden
hand behind killings "It is apparent that the killers have
all the assistance from the SLA and we request of you to
advise the [Sri Lanka] government that if the SLA continues
to act in this manner the entire peace process and the cease
fire agreement are being placed in heavy risk and dire
consequence have to be faced," said Leader of the Political
Wing of the LTTE in a letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission (SLMM), pointing out to the recent murders of two
LTTE cadres in Batticaloa district. The full text of the
letter published in LTTE's Peace Secretariat website
follows:

"Two LTTE members, traveling by a motorbike from
Batticaloa town to Chenkaladi around 12 noon yesterday 6th
of May 2004 were shod dead at a location called Thannamunai.
Situated 250 meters on both sides of the location are two
SLA sentry points. The killers have not been
apprehended.

"As stated by us in our communication this
appears to be a continuing trend and we are highly perturbed
over this. It is apparent that the killers have all the
assistance from the SLA and we request you to advise the
government that if the SLA continues to act in this manner
the entire peace process and the cease fire agreement are
being placed in heavy risk and dire consequence have to be
faced. We are afraid that it may become impossible for us to
be patient onlookers of this cavalier fashion in which
killing are being carried out.

"We trust that the SLMM
will explore all avenues of investigations and institute
remedial and preventive action. Urgent steps must be taken
to conduct an in-depth inquiry and bring to book the
culprits."

[TamilNet, May 08, 2004 13:00 GMT] "It is
apparent that the killers have all the assistance from the
SLA and we request of you to advise the [Sri Lanka]
government that if the SLA continues to act in this manner
the entire peace process and the cease fire agreement are
being placed in heavy risk and dire consequence have to be
faced," said Leader of the Political Wing of the LTTE in a
letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), pointing
out to the recent murders of two LTTE cadres in Batticaloa
district. The full text of the letter published in LTTE's
Peace Secretariat website follows:

"Two LTTE members,
traveling by a motorbike from Batticaloa town to Chenkaladi
around 12 noon yesterday 6th of May 2004 were shod dead at a
location called Thannamunai. Situated 250 meters on both
sides of the location are two SLA sentry points. The killers
have not been apprehended.

"As stated by us in our
communication this appears to be a continuing trend and we
are highly perturbed over this. It is apparent that the
killers have all the assistance from the SLA and we request
you to advise the government that if the SLA continues to
act in this manner the entire peace process and the cease
fire agreement are being placed in heavy risk and dire
consequence have to be faced. We are afraid that it may
become impossible for us to be patient onlookers of this
cavalier fashion in which killing are being carried out.

"We trust that the SLMM will explore all avenues of
investigations and institute remedial and preventive action.
Urgent steps must be taken to conduct an in-depth inquiry
and bring to book the culprits."

'It may become impossible for us to be patient onlookers'
-S.P. Tamilselvan The LTTE Political Head Quarters has sent
a strong worded letter to the Head of the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission regarding the killing of two senior LTTE
members. Extract from the letter is as follows:

"Two LTTE
members, traveling by a motorbike from Batticaloa town to
Chenkaladi around 12 noon yesterday 6th of May 2004 were
shod dead at a location called Thannamunai. Situated 250
meters on both sides of the location are two SLA sentry
points. The Killers have not been apprehended.

As stated
by us in our communication this appears to be a continuing
trend and we are highly perturbed over this. It is apparent
that the killers have all the assistance from the SLA and we
request of you to advise the government that if the SLA
continues to act in this manner the entire peace process and
the cease fire agreement are being placed in heavy risk and
dire consequence have to be faced. We are afraid that it may
become impossible for us to be patient onlookers of this
cavalier fashion in which killing are being carried out.

We trust that the SLMM will explore all avenues of
investigations and institute remedial and preventive action.
Urgent steps must be taken to conduct and in-depth inquiry
and bring to book the culprits."

Two LTTE activists
shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, May 06, 2004 13:48 GMT]
Mr.Sivanathan Murali alias Pahalavan and Mr.Vathanan, two
unarmed political activists of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were shot dead Thursday afternoon around
2 p.m. at Thannamunai, located 9 kilometers northwest of
Batticaloa town in the Sri Lanka Army-controlled area. At
the time of the incident the Sri Lanka Army was patrolling
the area, sources said.

The bodies of the dead were kept
in the mortuary of the Batticaloa teaching hospital, police
said.

Residents said both had been shot while riding in a
motor bicycle bearing No:GT 470 along
Valaichchenai-Batticaloa main road and they died on the
spot.

LTTE sources said both activists had been shot dead
by Tamil paramilitary groups closely associating with the
Sri Lanka Army in Batticaloa. LTTE sources further said this
crime could not have been committed without the knowledge of
the SLA.

Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
based in Batticaloa rushed to the site on a compliant by the
LTTE and held on the spot observation, sources said.

Seven Tigers were shot dead on April 24 at Ayithiamalai
in Batticaloa district and another LTTE cadre was shot dead
at Pendukalchenai while riding a motorbike on May 2nd,
sources recalled.

Political observers say the killings
pose a grave threat to the peace process.

The attack took place at Pondukalchenai, about 5
kilometres from Kiran north of Batticaloa

Assault,
detention of LTTE cadres sparks protest

[TamilNet, April
30, 2004 18:36 GMT] The Sri Lanka Police severely assaulted
and detained two members of the Liberation Tigers' sports
division Friday at Puthur Junction in Jaffna. Several
civilians and a journalist were also assaulted and
manhandled by the Police when the two Tigers were taken away
in a truck. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the
Atchuvely Police station where the two LTTE cadres were
detained Friday night, protesting against the assault and
demanding their immediate release.

Civilians and the journalist who were assaulted
and manhandled at Puthur Junction said that the Police
stopped the motorbike on which the two LTTE cadres had come
and snatched its keys. The Policemen had then asked them for
the motorbike's papers. The Tigers had said they could not
produce the identity papers unless they had the keys.

The
Policemen had then severely beaten up the two LTTE cadres
and taken them away in a truck to Atchuvely.

Civilians
and the journalist who were assaulted by the Police at
Puthur Junction said that some of the Policemen were
inebriated.

However, senior Police officers defused the tension
by making the SI apologise to the Tigers and the journalist
in public at the Puthur Junction later on Friday night.

Seven Tigers killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, April
26, 2004 08:44 GMT] Seven Liberation Tigers were killed by
an unidentified armed group in Batticaloa Sunday night
around 11.30 p.m. Four of the murdered LTTE cadres were
invalids, sources said. They were killed at
Ponnaankaanichenai, about 1.5 kilometres from the Sri Lanka
army's point northwest of Batticaloa town. Mr. E. Kousalyan,
the head of the LTTE's political division in Batticaloa told
truce monitors from the eastern town that the group that
killed the seven Tiger cadres had come from the direction of
the Sri Lanka army camp in Vavunathivu.

The Vavunathivu
SLA camp is located on the western shore of the Batticaloa
lagoon. It is about 4 kilometres northwest of the Batticaloa
town.

[TamilNet, April 26, 2004 14:11 GMT]
"The murder of our disabled cadres is clearly the work of
criminal elements that are working with the Sri Lanka army.
I have requested the SLMM to arrange an early meeting with
the SLA to discuss this matter. I hope this would be the
last incident of this sort. No one could have gone in a van
with arms at midnight in the direction of Vavunathivu
without the SLA's knowledge. There are no jungles in these
parts to hide a van and armed men", said Mr. Kousalyan, head
of the political division of the Liberation Tigers for the
Batticaloa-Amparai district.

"This is an act of utter
cowardice intended to create confusion so that anti-social
elements working with the army could cover up their deep
penetration operations against us", an LTTE military officer
in Batticaloa said.

He denied a report in a Sunday paper
published in Colombo that some LTTE troops were wounded in a
clash with loyalists of renegade commander 'Karuna in the
interior near the 'Beirut Base' recently.

"It is a total
fabrication planted by interested parties in the Sri Lankan
armed forces", he said.

"Each and every associate of
'Karuna' who has any knowledge of the interior and is
capable of planning and carrying out attacks has come back
to us. Hence we know that stories like this are being
planted in the Colombo press to create conditions for the
resumption of the SLA's deep penetrations operations against
us", the LTTE military officer remarked.

The armed group
which came in a van around 11.30 p.m. Sunday night shot dead
three sentries at the LTTE's check point on the Vavunathivu
- Aayithiyamalai Road, about 1.5 kilometres from the Sri
Lanka army's forward point near the Vavunathivu DS office.

Then they proceeded about five kilometres on the road to
Mullaamunai where the LTTE's finance division in Batticaloa
maintains a general store.

There were four disabled LTTE
cadres and two civilian guards at the store.

One of the
LTTE cadres was paralysed below his neck, the other had lost
both eyes, the third had both legs blown off in a land mine
and the fourth had lost a leg in the war.

The assailants
opened fire at random as they alighted from their vehicle,
according to the guards. The two old men ran away and hid in
the adjacent shrub. The gang then shot dead at point blank
range the four disabled LTTE cadres.

The gang also
damaged vehicles and motorbikes in the store before they
fled the area.

The guards said they saw the van speeding
down the road in the direction of the Vavunathivu SLA camp
after the attack.

Members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission in Batticaloa visited the store Monday afternoon.

Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), S.P.Thamilchelvan, in a letter to the Head of
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (retd.)
Trond Furuhovde, said that the murder of seven LTTE cadres
including four disabled Sunday night was a violation of the
Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and that the LTTE had "credible
evidence that the attackers came from the Vavunathivu SLA
[Sri Lanka Army] camp direction," according to the LTTE's
Peace Secretariat website.

Excerpts from the letter
published in the website follow:

"Please be advised that
we consider this incident wherein seven LTTE cadres
including 4 disabled members have been killed with scant
respect both to humanitarian norms and the CFA as one that
merits immediate inquiry and remedial action. We have
credible evidence that the attackers came from the
Vavunathivu SLA camp direction and escaped after attack in
the same direction. The distance from the SLA point and our
FDL is only 500 m and therefore the logical conclusion is
that the attackers could not have passed through the SLA
point without being noticed.

"We are afraid that putting
aside this incident as one carried out by elements closer to
Karuna may be too simplistic. Making use of the Karuna
factor, any Para-military groups working alongside the SLA,
whether with the blessing of the SLA or other wise, may
continue to act in this manner and create havoc and
confusion.

"We request of you therefore to take this
matter for an in-depth discussion and ensure that no such
violation takes place in the future. This gains more
significance in view of our commitment to the peace process
and the necessity to uphold the integrity of the CFA in the
present political context."

Explosion kills LTTE cadre
in east

[TamilNet, May 21, 2004 06:44 GMT] A member of
the Liberation Tigers was killed in an explosion in
Aalankerni, 42 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Thursday
night, LTTE sources in the eastern town said. Aalankerni is
close to the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa Road which is controlled
by the Sri Lanka Army. LTTE officials in Batticaloa said
they are awaiting more information about the explosion and
the damage it has caused.

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